Movie notes: ‘Avengers’ marathons kick off in a few hours

If Marvel Comics fans are suspiciously absent from school or work today, check your neighborhood multiplex.

Not content to start showing “The Avengers” — excuse me, “Marvel’s The Avengers” — at the stroke of midnight, a bunch of theaters are staging a warmup orgy of the movies that paved the way for the supergroup adventure.

(Sorry to use of such an overtly sexual term, but I was inspired by Roger Ebert, who wrote this in his review: “ ‘Comic-Con nerds will have multiple orgasms (about ‘The Avengers’) ,’ predicts David Edelstein in New York magazine, confirming something I had vaguely suspected about them. If he is correct, it’s time for desperately needed movies to re-educate nerds in the joys of sex.”)

It’s my favorite line in any “Avengers” review so far.

Anyway, starting at 12:30 p.m. today, all three Alamo Drafthouse locations, the new City Base Cinema and the Santikos Palladium will begin showing all five movies involving characters represented in “The Avengers” — “Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Thor” and “Captain America.” Regal’s Alamo Quarry will show all except “Hulk” at 2:15.

All will cap such a Marvel-soaked day with midnight screenings of “The Avengers,” of course.

The specifics varyfrom theater to theater. The Drafthouses — Westlakes, Stone Oak and Park North Plaza — offer all five for a single ticket price of $50 (Park North is sold out). The Quarry has a similar deal — four films for $35. The Palladium, on the other hand, will just charge $5 a movie.

The South Side City Base Cinema has the best deal — $25. That’s for all six films — the five warmup acts plus “The Avengers.”

Of course, most San Antonio multiplexes will be Avengers Central at midnight tonight — in 2-D and 3-D — regardless of whether they’re having a marathon. Like it did with “The Hunger Games,” the Palladium will have a new screening starting every few minutes; chances are every auditorium in the building will be pressed into service. Several screenings at the Drafthouse Westlakes are already sold out.

Regal is using “The Avengers” to unveil something it calls the RPX — Regal Premium Experience — at the Northeast Side Live Oak multiplex. It touts digital projection, surround sound and a giant screen to create ” an immersive 3-D experience.”

The process debuted in New York in 2010 just in time for “Iron Man 2.” The movie site bigscreen.com describes it thusly: “It will offer movie patrons a 60-foot wide image illuminated by dual digital projectors and the ability to show both 2D and 3D movies, according to the press release issued by Regal Cinemas on April 8. The 100,000 watt sound system is capable of producing 9.1 channels of sound and supplies what should be an adequate amount of rumble with eight 21-inch subwoofers.”

Whew. As if movies weren’t already loud enough.

And it adds a caveat — it’ll cost you an extra few bucks (Live Oak tickets were going for $15 online). But at least one movie fan indicated it was worth it.

Writing for Yahoo.com, Peter Serenduke called it “an unbelievable cinematic experience.” What was encouraging for movie fans was the fine print at the bottom: “The contributor has no connection to nor was paid by the brand or product described in this content.”